Posts Tagged ‘Graduate School’

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Nathan lives in Newmarket, Ontario with his wife Katie and two boys, Caleb and Eli. He enjoys spending his time playing hockey with the kids. He also has a love for the outdoors, especially hunting and fishing. He received a Master of Divinity and a Doctorate of Ministry from ACU. Most recently, he wrote a small book called Praying for the Neighborhood and also contributed a chapter to the book called Along the Way which was edited by Ron Bruner and Dana Pemberton. He also writes for our GST Blog.

1) Where are you currently working & what is your role?

I am the minister at Newmarket Church of Christ (a small city 40 minutes north of Toronto). I have been serving this congregation for just over 13 years.

2) Do you feel like the GST prepared you for your current role? If so, how?More »

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Recently I was browsing my TimeHop (which, for those who are blissfully unaware, is a cell phone app that mercilessly displays your unfiltered social media posts from today’s date in years past) when I came across a Tweet from four years ago that read something like this: “Is it weird that I’m actually really excited to learn Greek???” If I could talk to this four-years-in-the-past Ryne, I’d tell him that although it is quite weird for you to have shared such an arbitrary thought with the entire Internet, you will be delighted to know that your desire to learn Greek is not weird at all but will in fact be quite fruitful.

That naïve version of me couldn’t have really understood how rewarding the study of this ancient language would be. Indeed, only now in retrospect am I able to fathom the many doors that were opened to me through my study of Greek (and, eventually, other ancient languages) at ACU.

At the outset of my undergrad time at ACU I had only a vague sense of vocation. Something to do with the Bible, something to do with ministry. I was sure that the arc of my career would involve these two aspects, but I had no clearer direction than that.

The story of how my vocational understanding eventually crystallized is long and multifaceted, but for the purposes of this post, you only need to know the primary catalyst and the new ministerial yearning that it sparked within me. The catalyst was Greek; the yearning was for a ministry conducted not in a church building, but in a classroom.

The long and short of it was that I absolutely loved learning Greek. Before college, I had no particular interest in language learning, but Greek opened my eyes not only to a new skillset that I possessed, but also to new doorways through which to study the biblical text that I held so dear. My first taste of Greek was sort of like a baby’s first bite of chocolate cake at their first birthday party—I wasn’t quite sure what this new thing was, but I was absolutely sure that I wanted more.

Luckily for me, I happened to choose a university with a faculty that was uniquely and diversely equipped to give me more. Languages were a huge part of what brought me to the Graduate School of Theology for my master’s work. I had drank deeply from the well of Greek in undergrad and had dipped my toe in the waters of Hebrew, and the GST offered an opportunity for more of the same as well as an expansion of my linguistic horizons.More »

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What is justice? How can we be more just people, and a more just church? These questions seem acute in our time, as American Christians have access to unprecedented wealth and power while so many of our brothers and sisters sometimes lack even daily bread. As this new series of podcasts tries to show, the Bible offers a profound and eminently workable approach to changing our own lives — our attitudes, behaviors, values, and desires — so as to become more just people. I hope you enjoy this series and welcome your comments or questions.

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We know it’s been a long time in coming, but we’re excited to finally launch the ACUGraduate School of Theology Blog where professors and students alike can contribute and interact around a multiplicity of fascinating and significant subjects. Of course those of you who aren’t ACUGST professors or students are most welcome to feast upon, delve into, and comment on the material you find here.

You may be asking yourself: “Who are these GST people?” Our Associate Dean, Dr. Mark Hamilton describes us thusly:

Our community of women and men comes from around the United States and many other nations across the globe. We seek to learn how to serve God and thus God’s creation with our hearts, hands, minds, and feet. Rigorous study of the Bible and the theology and history of the church, sustained and reflective engagement with the arts of ministry and the skills of leadership, committed practices of prayer and service – these are the elements we cultivate in our lives together.

Our community is firmly grounded in the life of the church. Many of us come from the churches of the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement, a group of Christians in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries who sought to reclaim the vision of unity, holiness, and service present when Christianity began. Our school embraces that vision even as it welcomes all who seek to serve in imitation of Jesus Christ. We believe that the church needs spiritual leaders in order to be part of God’s work of bringing peace, wholeness, and purpose to the world.

We think we’ve got some pretty good ideas for ways to make this blog exciting, informative, and even transformative. So make sure you keep watching the blog for updates.

Two things soon to come — 1) Dr. Mark Hamilton shares a three part series on Justice in Isaiah, and 2) an exciting announcement about our upcoming GST Preview Day Event. See you around! More »